Every word from Ralf's press conference

The interim manager gave updates on the availability of Edinson Cavani and Jesse Lingard and outlined what the team needs to improve on going forward.

Read, or watch, every word from the boss below...

Hi Ralf, you haven't played a league match since beating West Ham. With five league games coming up this month, what did you work on during the winter break?
"Well, apart from playing together as a team in defence and improving and developing our defence, well, work together, we also invested some time in our offensive principles. I think we showed that both in the game against West Ham and even more so in the game against Middlesbrough, where we created numerous chances. I can't remember any game in the last couple of years where our team has created more shots on goal. I think in total we had 30 shots on goal, and maybe 22 of them from inside the box. In the end, it didn't lead to the result that we wanted to get but we dominated the game in most parts, and I think we did well in creating those chances."

Are Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani back for this game? Is everything okay with Jesse because there seemed to be a lot of confusion even including Friday night about whether he was available and what the situation was?
"Yes, they are both available and they will both be part of the squad for tomorrow's game at Burnley. Both are top professionals, both have been training well. And with regards to Jesse, I have a very good relationship with him. He knows that I would have been willing to let him go - at least until the issue with Mason came up - and all the other things, I think we have spoken about. He mentioned some personal issues but again we have to look forward now. There are no problems whatsoever between myself and Jesse and vice versa. I'm happy to have him in the squad and, as I said, he will be a member of the squad for tomorrow's game."

Just a quick one the scale of the task. We're into February, the scale of the task that's facing you for this season and perhaps any major overhaul there would be come the summer, has that become ever more evident now than perhaps it was a few months back?
"I don't know. I don't think so because overall, I think the development of the team and our performances in the last couple of weeks have improved, including, by the way, the cup game. There are two points of criticism that the team has to face and we all have to face. Number one, we just wasted too many clear-cut chances. As I said, 22 shots from inside the box, and at least 10 of them were really massive opportunities and we should have been up easily 3-0 at half-time, and in the end, it should have been 6-1 or 6-2. This was one point of criticism that we have to face. The other one was the 10 seconds before we conceded that handball goal, as I may call it, it was a perfect counter-pressing situation on the sideline in the middle of their half. We took away time, the only thing we forgot is taking away the ball from them. This led to a situation where eight seconds later, we were outnumbered in our box and allowed them to score that handball goal. And although it was a handball, I'm still convinced that this goal should have been disallowed, but we shouldn't have allowed this situation to happen in our box. Those are the two things I have to fault the team but apart from that, again, we invested the whole week into the game plan, into improving our game in possession of the ball and very many of those things have been confirmed by the team and shown on the pitch against Middlesbrough."

Hello Ralf, can I ask you about Raphael Varane, his performances of late, what he brings to the squad and the influence he has on and off the pitch, how he's settled in, still in his first season at Manchester United?
"I think he has arrived, he seems to be physically fit, he has no issues anymore with injuries. I thought until he had to be substituted against Middlesbrough, he did extremely well, together with Harry. He played probably his best game, knowing it was a Championship team but a very ambitious Championship team, and I'm happy to have him back for tomorrow's game and, yeah, hopefully, we can have him in the same fitness shape and in the same form that he's played Middlesbrough for the next, upcoming games."

Hi Ralf, you lost the game at the weekend. Was that realistically the best opportunity for silverware? I know you're still in the Champions League and can finish in the top four, but the FA Cup must have been vitally important to you?
"Yes, of course. Again, this is hypothetical. There are still quite a few other top clubs involved in the competition and still 16 teams involved, but, quite apart from that, of course. Everybody could see how seriously we prepared the team for this game and obviously we desperately wanted to win this game but, as I said, we were not clinical enough, we didn't score enough goals. As I said, this is a game that under normal circumstances you are 3-0 at half-time and then you play down the clock, at one stage, you make three or four or even five subs after 60 or 70 minutes and save energy for the game against Burnley but it didn't happen. We were not the only ones, there were quite a few other teams like Chelsea or West Ham, and two or three other teams, who had problems against even third-division teams. So this can happen, but, in the end, we didn't win, we didn't proceed, and this was the worst part of it. It's not so much about maybe it would have been a chance of getting some silverware, we just wanted to proceed to the next round. That's why everybody, including the players and the whole staff, are disappointed but now it's high time to look ahead, make the best out of the situation. We won the last two games in the Premier League and we will try to get three points at Turf Moor against Burnley."

Part Two of Ralf Rangnick's pre-Burnley press conference will be available to read and watch at 22:30 GMT on Monday 7 February.